Lose Control
by etoilecourageuse
Summary: "Andy!" Bellatrix shouted out as she stepped forward, laughing, a cold, taunting laugh. "How nice to have you here. You, me, Cissy… It's a lovely little family reunion, isn't it?"


_It had already become dark as she left the house, going for a walk, like so many nights before. She closed her eyes for a second, breathing in the cold winter's air, couldn't suppress a smile. She loved long walks in the dark, loved being by herself, but had hardly been able to go out alone during the war._

_It seemed sheer impossible to believe that it was over, that everything was over, that she was alive… But what price did she have to pay for her life? She'd lost everything, everyone! Had lost everything she'd ever loved, everything she'd lived for! How could she still go on, after all this had happened? How could she still-_

_Again she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath… No. No, she would always go on, always, would never give up. Sighing a quiet sigh she turned around, ready to make her way back to her home, screamed, screamed as loud as she could as she found a woman standing right before her, smiling at her, a cruel, dreadful smile. Her face was so familiar to her, but at the same time so strange… How many years had she not seen her, how much time had passed since- _

_She found herself unable to finish her thought. Her opposite had taken a step forward, pointing her wand against her chest before she'd even had the chance to react; everything started to blur before her eyes, only seconds after she'd looked into her sisters face._

Hastily Andromeda opened her eyes, unable to breathe, unable to think. Darkness seemed to overwhelm her, to drown her, she was unable to even see her hand in front of her face. She felt Bellatrix's hands against her shoulders still, holding her firmly, as if she were unwilling to let her go after all these years had passed.

How much had she feared to meet her sister again, how many times had she seen her face, right before her eyes, praying it would only be her imagination, trying to fool her? Now, all her nightmares seemed to come true, she seemed trapped in one of her dreams, unable to wake up, unable to escape.

Slowly she sat up, leaning against the wall as she tried to control her breathing, closing her eyes again, knowing it'd be pointless to keep them open any longer. A part of her wanted to jump up from the floor, wanted to scream, to beg to let her go… But she remained motionless, as if she were paralysed with fear.

Why her? What had she done to deserve to be punished? Fallen in love? Had falling in love become a crime over the past years? She knew that she was different to her sisters, knew that they'd never accepted her, that they'd never accepted her views, no matter about how desperate her attempts to make them understand had been.

_She'll kill you,_ a voice told her in her head, all of a sudden. _She's going to kill you, Andromeda. Bellatrix is going to kill you._

"No!" she shouted out, shaking her head, over and over again. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Tears had started to stream down her face without her noticing, as if she'd realised only now what had happened – as if she'd realised only now that the things about to happen to her would exceed her most terrible imaginations.

"Andromeda?" a voice right next to her suddenly asked, causing her to wince. Andromeda gasped for breath, bit her lip, trying to remain quiet, trying not to arouse more attention…

She was not alone. She was not alone! There was somebody with her, somebody who seemed to know her name, somebody who-

Could it be possible? Could it really be possible that… No. No! Of course not, of course it couldn't.

"Don't be foolish," Andromeda whispered to herself, again shook her head. Why would she be here? Why would someone like her be here, sharing her fate, trapped like an animal? No, this was ridiculous, only the bare imagination would almost make her laugh, how could she even think about it?

"Andromeda?" the voice asked again, quietly, hoarsely. "Andromeda, say something… Please…"

Again she winced as she felt a hand on her knee, bit her lip until she tasted blood stream down her throat. She'd been right. Her imagination had not fooled her, she'd been right!

"Narcissa," she whispered barely audible, her eyes widening with fright. She was unable to see her sister, could only guess her location. Her hand had started to tremble as she touched her knee as well, hoping to feel Narcissa's skin against her fingertips. "Narcissa, where… Where are we? What is going on, why-"

"Shh!" she hissed, not allowing Andromeda to finish her sentence, quickly pulled her hand back. "Quiet!"

A door at the other end of the room swung open only a second later; the blinding light would once again bring tears to Andromeda's eyes, her sister's sharp voice would burn, would always resound in her ears.

"Andy!" Bellatrix shouted out as she stepped forward, laughing, a cold, taunting laugh. "How nice to have you here. You, me, Cissy… It's a lovely little family reunion, isn't it?"

Andromeda wouldn't reply; only looked at her, stared at her until her face started to blur before her eyes. Again Bellatrix laughed, shaking her head as she sank down to her knees, reaching out her hand to stroke over her cheek.

Quickly she turned around, wincing as she felt her skin against hers. Finally she was able to catch a glimpse on Narcissa. Narcissa, her beautiful youngest sister, who'd always tried to preserve peace within the family, who'd always tried to remain calm, to look for peaceful solutions when they'd fought again…

"Cissy!" she exclaimed, covering her face with her hands, unable to believe her own eyes. What had she done? What had Bellatrix done to her? Thick strands of her long, blonde hair were sticking to her blood-smeared face, she'd become incredibly thin over the years… Thin, pale as a ghost… Her entire body was covered with bruises, bruises and cuts…

Bellatrix chuckled as she forced Andromeda to turn back, to look at her. Slowly she wrapped her long, dark brown hair around her right hand, pulling her head close to hers, causing her to gasp for breath.

"That's nothing, Andromeda," she whispered against her ear, her voice cold now, cold and harsh. "Believe me. This is nothing compared to what I am going to do to you. You and your- _sister…_"

Slowly she took out her wand, pointing it against her sister's chest. But then, only a second later, she turned to Narcissa, firmly taking her wrist, harshly pulling her up, causing Andromeda to gasp for breath as she heard her head, firmly hitting the wall, as she saw Narcissa's wince.

"What should I do to her, Andy?" Bellatrix asked quietly, having regained her playful, almost soft tone of voice. "What should I do to your little traitor sister? Should I use the Cruciatus curse, to start with? Or dismember her? Should I cut her into pieces - tiny little pieces, limb by limb? Would you like that? Trust me, I know how to keep her alive. I know how to keep you both alive. None of you will die until I feel the desire to grant you death."

Andromeda bit her lip, wouldn't speak a word, just shook her head… No. No, she'd not reply, she wouldn't reply to her!

"Say something!" Bellatrix hissed, quickly withdrawing a knife from her cloak, letting the blade intrude deeply into Narcissa's skin, laughing, as if she were feasting on her scream of pain. "Say something, Andromeda, or I swear to you that your worst nightmare will come true!"

Andromeda would have almost started to laugh. Slowly she rose, taking a few steps forward. She was dizzy, but she wouldn't not care. Was there even something left to care about? With her husband dead, her daughter, dead… Had she not gone through hell already?

"My worst nightmare?" she repeated, all of a sudden having gained courage, having become angry, so incredibly angry! "What will you do to me, Bellatrix? You can't threaten me any more. I've already lost everything. I am already on my knees and nothing will ever be able to help me get up again, so what else will you do to me? Tell me! What else?"

Quickly Bellatrix turned around, firmly shoving Narcissa down to the floor, looking deeply into her other sister's eyes. "You will see," she whispered, slowly letting the knife's blade slide over her throat, leaving behind a deep, red line of blood, starting to stream down her chest.

Andromeda stumbled; she lost her balance, fell down to the floor, her head firmly hitting the stone wall, leaving her behind unconscious.

Days seemed to have passed. Days, or had it been weeks? Andromeda did not know, did not care. Bellatrix had come to them, over and over again, had tortured them, beaten them, or had just brought them water shortly before they'd died of thirst, forcing them to drink out of a bowl on the floor, as if they were animals, unworthy to be treated like human beings…

Had it not been enough to break their bones? To burn them, to let them bleed until near death, just to save their lives once again, unwilling to let them go? What had she done to them… Merlin… What had she done to them! Bellatrix had broken them, both of them, not only their bodies, no… She'd also broken their souls, leaving scars that would never heal again. Never.

She'd not shown any mercy, had not even spent a thought on killing them, even when they'd begged for death, even when they'd begged her to finally end their lives. How long would this still go on? How long would they still be trapped here, trapped in the dark, unable to escape, too weak to move, too weak to even speak? They'd barely talked to each other, had only set there, holding each other, trying to comfort each other, for the first time forgetting about the past, forgetting about everything that happened.

"Cissy…" Andromeda whispered, heavily breathing as tried to sit up. Soon she gave up her attempt, sinking back down to the floor, her eyes closed. Her sister wouldn't reply, wouldn't even give her a sign whether she was still alive or not. Was she breathing? She did not know. "Cissy, say something… Please…"

Nothing. Slowly she reached out her hand, trying to touch her, trying to comfort her, to hold her… But she failed. Of course she failed. Narcissa had been the only one to give her strength over the past days, had been the only one to…

She was even unable to finish her thought. For just a second she opened her eyes again, just to see a small stripe of light illuminating the room, heard Bellatrix's steps again… But she'd not notice how she entered the cellar again, wouldn't notice how she started to laugh, looking down at Narcissa's dead body. Andromeda had lost consciousness, once again, finally having realised that she wouldn't let her go again, finally she'd realised that it would never end. Never.


End file.
